Unwanted

by Mari LaRoche

  Another quake rocked the ground, and he clutched her to his side as more debris rained down. “We need to hurry.”

  “Why?”

  “The quakes will keep getting worse. We need to establish you’re the victim, and then we need to leave before the area rips apart.” Amir loosened his grip. “Do you need help climbing?”

  She drew in a deep breath. “I’ll let you know. You can tell me how I’m causing the quakes while I climb.”

  “You remember the keys? That the DayKing and NightQueen can’t be in most Dominions because they are too big, too powerful? Some dominions are more delicate than others, and your energies are powerful and chaotic. You tapped them when you were attacked, and still radiating them. It’s making this dominion unstable. We’ll have to leave because you’re pouring out power and don’t yet know how to contain it. But, because you have tapped it, you’ll be able to open a gate into Godhome.”

  Climbing out of the debris was a simple matter. The airway remained though she could see water bulging it inward where rubble had piled up. She hadn’t known the tunnels extended all the way to the sea floor, far below the platform they’d walked on.

  “Why is there air all the way down here?”

  “Redundancy. They made the air tunnels all the way down and layered more protections on the deepest section so if there were problems, they had a backup. Today, it paid off for them—they still have the tech.”

  They waited as the area rippled like a fever dream before they began moving again until they reached a stretch of airway surrounded by open water, the clear sunlit depths filled with sea folk and other creatures. She was filthy enough a small portion of her wished that they had swum. She yearned for the charge the seawater brought. The fear had faded, swept away by the power flowing into her when it touched her.

  14

  All attention immediately centered on them, making her even more uncomfortable. She didn't like the way the people looked at her. She glanced from side to side. Reaction and cold made her teeth chatter as she hugged herself, trying to calm down.

  Zeyaad and Turfa darted forward.

  “What have you done?” Turfa shouted once they crossed into air.

  Swimming forward from among the gathered marid, three daoine sidhe gathered close behind the rulers. Unlike the others, they wore simple trunks and knives strapped to arms and calves that were clearly visible.

  The one in the lead stared at her. "I demand blood price."

  The daoine sidhe strode forward until he was even with Turfa and Zeyaad. He folded his arms and turned to the marid king.

  A laugh boomed from Zeyaad’s chest. "And you don't owe blood debt to them because the rest of your assassins failed?"

  "Exactly. They have paid for any action that they may have taken. That they took without any consultation, of their own will, to try to win the generous bounty posted by Brigit. The question of that debt to their family remains, the peri and…the other…could only have survived if those who attacked them were dead."

  “Poor daoine sidhe, killed by a mere human.” The amused scorn in Amir’s voice surprised Viv.

  She’d never heard that tone from him.

  “Were you watching, Conall? Still too afraid to take a hand even against a weakened opponent? Even for a sidhe, you’re a disgrace.”

  Conall’s hand fell to the knife at his belt.

  Zeyaad slapped it away. "I know of your kin’s arrogance, but I've never seen it this shameless. Your associates violated my hospitality. Do you know what the penalty for that is?"

  Rage gone in a blink, the daoine sidhe waved an airy hand. "I suppose to be fed to sharks or something like that?" The marid king's eyes grew wider at the contemptuous dismissal.

  Vivian’s gaze darted to the huge crowd. She looked for spearguns. These people had adapted modern technology, so there had to be modern weapons here.

  A number had crossed into the air, clustering close to where their rulers stood.

  Zeyaad strode forward, and his queen caught at his arm.

  "We need him." Her voice filled the area, urgent and sharp.

  Conall strolled several feet toward Amir and Vivian then examined his manicured nails. He positioned himself so he could see all of them clearly. Eyes on Turfa, he enunciated, "Do it."

  A faint smile curved his mouth. The other two sidhe moved forward to join him, and he turned his gaze to Vivian.

  The Queen shot the daoine sidhe a poisonous glare. "This pays my debt. All of it. And then I’ll gut you."

  "You got in debt to a land walker? To a sidhe? You didn't have the sense to not go in debt to a fé?" Zeyaad's body was coiled like a whip, ready to react.

  "Politics." The Queen let his arm go, backing as fast as a startled fish amongst the other sea dwellers. "Unfortunately, I need to take over."

  "To the strongest as always." Zeyaad flexed his hands.

  Motion caught Viv’s eye. At the edges of the airway, sharks gathered, gliding, unblinking black eyes fixed on the scene.

  The area spasmed in a huge quake, the waters throwing seafolk and sharks around like rag dolls outside, the flooring cracking and rippling like a whip. Amir went to a knee, tugging Vivian down with him, hugging her close and interposing his body between her and the marid.

  A scream ripped through the air.

  Vivian could see under Amir’s arm, and Zeyaad moved. One of the other marid spun, half his throat gone. The force of the blow pushed him through the wall, into the water. Blood splattered the floor, staining the waters beyond as sharks closed in and tore at the body.

  Conall and the two others recovered their feet and retreated closer to Amir and Vivian. They stopped perhaps ten feet away, and Vivian’s skin heated up as the air around them grew drier and hotter.

  Another scream, and a haze of blood concealed the sharks. An inhuman roar echoed in the airway, a primal bellow that chilled Viv’s blood.

  It drew her attention even though she knew she should be watching the closer threat.

  Zeyaad’s jaws gaped, and nausea shuddered through Viv as he bit an opponent’s arm off then put his fist through another man’s chest. The remaining supporter fled, skimming out into the water as Turfa stepped forward, chin held high.

  The King’s hand lashed out, the grip dimpling her throat. "Yes?"

  She stared at him. Viv couldn’t decipher her expression.

  Both Turfa’s hands caressed the wrist and arm that held her throat. She whispered, "My king."

  His hand shifted in a caress, down her throat to her shoulder.

  From their expressions, they were inches from a public display of affection. Apparently, they thought trying to kill each other was foreplay.

  Well, yes. Ušum ’s voice was faint and strained. He’s still hot.

  “I killed the other six, and this dominion is ripping apart. Do you think you’d live to collect the bounty even if you succeeded?” Amir’s conversational tone, cold and even, snapped her eyes back to the nearer menace.

  Conall stood just out of arm’s reach. Amir still crouched, one arm around Viv.

  Another storm of water, moved by the seaquake, flung the daoine sidhe off their feet. Amir hugged the ground with Viv, riding it out. Energy from the water poured into her, spiraling out; Viv could feel the flux and flow.

  We need to get out of here and get this stabilized. Or we will merge, just to keep the body alive.

  Why?

  I can manage the energies better than you. But every time I take over, you weaken.

  Zeyaad approached, Turfa tucked under one arm.

  "Get her out of here. Open a way into the Godhome. She’s killing this dominion." The king smiled at Vivian. His teeth were still red.

  Another picture flashed through Viv’s head, this one a tender post lovemaking moment. It jarred.

  Amir nodded.

  "How do I do that?" Viv asked.

  The water churned with a whirlpool forming outside, and she shivered. The air and water felt wrong on a level she d
idn’t understand.

  "You’ve uncovered your magic; it will come naturally. I can feel the beat of it in you from here." The marid king bowed to her very slightly. He shook off one of the bands made of pearl and twisted silver wire on his free arm and handed it to Vivian. "A token of the debt I owe you. Now get out of my kingdom."

  He and his queen stepped out of the airway, the remaining courtiers following—or fleeing—the area.

  For a moment, Conall remained, calculating odds, then he spun and dove out as well, his companions following.

  Viv put the king’s band on her wrist like a large bracelet. Then, she pressed her temples with her fingertips as she sensed the pulse of power traveling along her spine quickening. "I can feel it, but I don't know what to do with it."

  Amir breathed a laugh. "If that's your only problem, life is going to be kind to you from now on. Take the power and use it to feel for the weakest spots."

  Vivian waved her arms and then glared at him. “Not feeling any appreciable weak spots.”

  The platform under their feet shuddered.

  A smile flitted across Amir’s face. "Close your eyes. Feel the world around you slow. Meditate."

  She closed her eyes. The area on which she stood etched itself in her mind: the current-like flow of power that created the luminescent walls, the slow massive stream from below that fueled the various structures. Coming from her, tiny plumes of energy zigzagged into the current, disrupting it, seeming to force it into random paths. The shifts created a chain reaction, emanating as far as she could perceive.

  The air she stood in bore a different energy, fine and smooth like a silk veil draped all around her. Less affected by the power she was shedding. She focused on smooth energies.

  A thin, even weave, but the longer she spent observing it, the more she could see the flaws in it, dropped threads and tiny rips, many of them patched with an energy signature akin to what welled up from the ocean. There was a tear, a small darkness to her left.

  "Do you see it?"

  Vivian nodded.

  “I’m going to put my hands on your shoulders, show you where to move the power. You have to do most of the heavy lifting; I can’t open a gate to Godhome on my own.”

  Nor should he; he’s hunted there. Be careful not to let his energy mix with yours.

  Questions rose to Viv’s lips. Warm hands settled on her shoulders, and a different power source, this one flickering and dancing like open flames, coated her shoulders and arms to the fingertips.

  "Imagine the area is a piece of paper. There’s a slice in the paper that you’re trying to push open just enough to ease yourself through. Use the power that's swirling inside you to push that cut open. Carefully."

  The fire shifted, reaching out. Vivian focused on her power, imagined reaching out with it.

  It ran up and down her spine, but no further. She tried to move it down the nerves of her arms to her hands, following the path of the flames but not mixing her own energy with them.

  It hurt as it flooded down her arms and out of her fingertips. It looked like water to her inner eye, fluid and constantly changing, a shade of blue as deep and limitless as a twilight sky. She reached out, water dancing on her fingertips, and touched the small tear, working her fingers into it. The fire retreated from her hands.

  Reality felt like a sticky label she needed to peel back. The rent her inner eye perceived widened. She moved her other hand, pushing with steady pressure. Reality pressed back, the tear morphing into a hole. She just needed to brush it with her fingertips.

  She must have looked like a mime, feeling an invisible wall. The power, chilly dancing sprays of water, felt good, almost like taking a shot of potent liquor. The world spun giddily as the hole widened.

  Water drained into the hole, revealing a grassy area, the stalks white with dust or salt. The energy in the air on that side poured back to her through the opening, in a rapid, rich, thick current.

  A tiny quake rippled around them, echoing the larger ones.

  The edges of the tear crinkled; reality wanted to close the hole. It pushed, and she steadied the opening. The water churned as the normal energy of the area warped and twisted, trying to force the opening closed.

  She took a step, and Amir swore. He kept his hands on her shoulders as he followed. Sand and grass tickled her toes and feet while the air tingled on her skin. The hollow boom of surf sounded close. “Very good,” he said, leaning close. “Close the gate; it’s very bad for other dominions to have Godhome leak into them.”

  Viv turned back to the tear they’d walked through. Her eyes closed, she narrowed her focus to shrinking the gateway, sealing the little tear over with bits of energy from her fingers, like weaving cloth together.

  "Well done. Open your eyes, Viv, and see where you are.”

  Amir’s voice was warm with admiration, and she opened her eyes to find they stood on a grassy dune, looking down on a wine-dark sea rolling into the shoreline. Sand edged the water before dunes rose up, like the one they stood on. A full moon rode high, the sky jeweled with more stars than she’d ever seen in one sky in her life.

  She smelled grass, a pungent green odor, as if all the lawns in the world had been mowed at once. The barking squawk of a night heron sounded near the water.

  The sweet-scented air caressed her body, and her mood sparkled with energy. It felt like a home longed for all her life and totally new all at once.

  15

  Amir pointed behind her. “Let’s get under shelter.” He’d mostly regained his human appearance, though his eyes still glowed, and if she concentrated, she could perceive the outlines of his wings.

  While under threat, she’d ignored the scratchy sticky film of salt on her skin, the stiff tugs of her hair matted together, the pervasive odor of sweat and filth she’d carried with her since they left that area. The contrast with the fragrant air intensified it.

  The intense sweet scent of moonflowers drifted on a shift of the breeze. A few steps forward revealed a mass of the huge blooms twined alongside a path cutting through trees.

  A single mountain rose behind them, picture-perfect. Like a cartoon of a desert island.

  Energy poured into her, making her giddy. “Are you from here?”

  “No. This is the dominion where the King and Queen live. Don’t say their names here; they will hear. Their attention would be bad for us. The most powerful of their children visit here, too. Because of its nature, this dominion responds to powerful magic. Hen I showed you how to open the gate, I set the destination for this island. It’s a place the first peri created; a place where we can be safe for a little while. There’s a building about halfway up, which should have clothes and supplies.” Amir paced across the white sand beach, heading for the slope.

  Viv followed him more slowly. “This place is wonderful.”

  “For you, maybe. Less so for others.” His tone was mild.

  A trick of the light made the flowers seem to dip as she passed them, and more night-blooming plants lined the path. The foliage they pushed through parted at the slope of the mountain, revealing a rocky path leading up. The moon was bright enough to edge the rocks and plants with crisp shadows.

  “Now we just follow the trail.” Amir pointed, to where a shadow interrupted the light cascading down the mountainside.

  The power that welled into her from her feet flooded her in exhilarating waves. Small discomforts dropped away like an old skin. She fought the urge to spin or dance in the moonlight. “Amir. This place feels wonderful. Where is Godhome relative to earth?”

  “Picture a globe. That’s humanity’s dominion. Now picture a lot of other globes, touching the middle globe. Those are other kins’ dominions. Now, picture a stand or something the globes hang from.

  “A place of infinite possibility and energy. That’s Godhome, the entirety of this place. It formed where the King and Queen stood when they created all the other Dominions. It’s the only place able to contain them in all their power. Their e
nergy slowly erodes other dominions- hers reduces them to their primal elements, and his locks them into stasis, unable to evolve or change.”

  “A peri made this island?”

  “Yes, this is where my people go when they need to visit Godhome, during the Reckoning. This dominion isn’t a good place for us. We require definition and rules to exist, and it’s exhausting wrestling to maintain them here.”

  “This island is a place where you can live without being in danger from the energy here?” Viv couldn’t imagine why. She felt better than she had in years; no joint pain, no aches…it was like being a girl again.

  “Where a peri can rest, yes. That’s why I aimed for it. And Ušumgallu never had a problem with the energies of this dominion. She had some things much in common with her mother.”

  Someone is all judgy about creatures of primal chaos, I see. Given Amir showed you how to open a gate, and this is the only destination he knows, I didn’t try to stop you leaving. The order of the island will help keep us separate, though. If you start to have memories of mine when I’m not present, we need to leave because that’s a sign we’re beginning to merge. Take it seriously, I don’t know exactly what will happen.

  “Back on Earth, do you know any mages?”

  Amir raised his brows. “Yes. Why?”

  Don’t tell him until I have a body. Otherwise the guilt and awareness of me will make him withdraw from you.

  “Memories are telling me I need one to do something for me… Where is he or she?”

  “He lives in Idaho, near the border with Canada, off the grid. Mages hide, or they’re enslaved. Did the memories tell you that?

  “No.”

  “It’s good they aren’t overwhelming you. That you’re still you, I mean.” He met her eyes a moment, brushed her cheek with his fingertips, then turned abruptly away.

  Smooth. He likes you, Vivian.

  “Why didn’t you create the gate to this place when we needed to leave fast?” Viv picked a moonflower and cupped it in her hands.